The season had a new feel to it with the First Team back in the Dorset Premier League. We had also re-formed the Reserve Team and they would take part in the Dorset League Division 1. With the Under 18 Youth team continuing in the Under 18 Div 1 we were now back to three teams.

Stuart & Andy Smith were still at the helm as the first team managers now assisted by Rex Buttle, and the new Reserve team would be managed by Harry Gibbs. The Youth team was managed by Jason Irvine assisted by Craig Stobbs.

FIRST TEAM

Having won the Senior League last season we knew we had a decent squad but this was a step up so a mid-table finish to consolidate our position in the league was the target.

In the close season we added a Polish import Szymon Matuszewski to the squad and he looked a useful addition to the squad having played at a high level in Poland.

We started our league season on saturday 9th August with a home fixture against Hamworthy Utd Res which we won 4-1 to get our season off to a good start. However, we were soon brought down to earth with two 4-2 defeats in succession at home to Mere and Wareham. Our defence, which had been our backbone the previous season were now struggling a bit at the higher level so we were pleased to go to our next match, away to Tintinhull, and keep a clean sheet with a solitary goal from Leo Hayward securing the points. This was only a temporary respite however as we again lost 4-2 at home, this time to Parley. A midweek fixture at Sherborne followed and once again the local derby inspired us to a fine 4-1 victory. The highlight of this game was the debut of Szymon Matuszewski who came on as sub for the last 20 minutes and scored 2 goals. The elation of this win did not last long however, and a 4-1 defeat at home by Hamworthy Rec put us on the back foot again. Our topsy turvy form continued with another away win, our third of the season, at Shaftesbury but we were unable to sustain this form and slumped to a 4-2 defeat at lowly Sturminster Marshall the following saturday.

As september ended we settled to a decent run of results. A 2-1 away win at Cranborne (thanks to a Josh Payne brace) was followed up with a good 3-3 draw at Alvington against Merley Cobham who were title challengers. A 3-1 home victory against basement side Poole Borough was followed up by an extra time cup exit by 2-1 against eventual double winners Hamworthy Rec where a missed penalty by Sports proved crucial. We then drew 1-1 with Weymouth Res at home and in the Somerset Senior Cup beat Stockwood Green 3-2 after trailing 2-0 at the break.

A few suspensions and injuries began to take their toll at this point and a bit of a slump followed this good run. We lost 4-2 at Portland, 2-1 at Parley, 3-2 at Bridport and then were dumped out the Somerset Senior Cup by Staplegrove who beat us 3-1 at Alvington.

As players returned so did our form and a Leo Hayward hat-trick inspired us to a 5-4 win at Blandford, which was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Swanage, a 2-1 home win over Blandford, a 1-1 draw with Sherborne Res, a 4-0 home win over Cranborne and a stunning 5-1 away win over high flyers Merley Cobham. This was our best result of the season with goals from Leo Hayward 2, Louis Irwin 2 and Josh Payne sealing a stunning victory.

We followed this up with a 6-2 win at home over Bridport Res and a close 2-1 at Mere in a dour match so our form continued to be up and down. We had a decent draw with Portland (1-1) at home and followed that up with a 2-1 home win over Poole Borough. A 4-2 defeat at Hamworthy Rec was a decent result as we took the lead twice and gave them a bit of a scare. A Louis Irwin hat-trick saw us see off Sturminster Marshall by 6-3 the following week and we followed that up with a decent 3-3 draw at Wareham.

The following week was the return derby with Tintinhull at Alvington and we won that by 5-1 but that was followed by perhaps our poorest performance of the season in a 3-2 defeat at Hamworthy Utd Res. The poor form continued with a 1-0 defeat at Swanage but we got back to winning ways with a 4-0 defeat of Shaftesbury in our final home match of the season. Our final fixture gave us a difficult match away to Weymouth Res but the team responded superbly to record a 4-3 victory in a cracking match. A Leo Hayward hat-trick was the highlight of the afternoon along with Matt Watson's display as stand-in keeper.

So, an up and down season but with some memorable moments and our mid-table finish achieved the targets we had set at the start of the season. What was more rewarding was the games against some of the top sides where we had shown that, on our day, we could match them. All in all, an enjoyable season and one we can build on for next year.

SEASON 2014/15 FIRST TEAM GOALSCORERS

SEASON 2014/15 FIRST TEAM APPEARANCES

In total 35 players played.

RESERVE TEAM

The Reserves were re-formed this season after a couple of years absence and had been admitted to the Dorset League Division 1. Manager Harry Gibbs had to assemble a squad from scratch but the expectations were high with the ultimate aim being to get the reserve team into the Dorset Senior League.

The season started a bit tentatively for the new team with a draw against Shaftesbury Res at Alvington. Might have been a win but for a late penalty to the visitors but we were up and running and had our first point. Jamie Green had been appointed team captain and celebrated with 2 goals.

Week 2 saw the reserves take their bow in the 1st round of the Somerset Junior Cup against Frys Club Old Boys at Alvington and we recorded our first win of the season by 3-0.

Back on league business we then travelled to league leaders Stourpaine with a weak side and were beaten 2-0 so with only 1 point from our first 2 games we needed to find a winning formula if we were to have any chance in the promotion race.

The following week were were again away, this time at Bere Regis where the lads recorded their first league victory, winning 4-2.

Round 2 of the Somerset Junior Cup was next, but struggling without a recognised keeper we went down 4-2 but this proved to be no disgrace as Somerton subsequently ran away with the Yeovil League Premier Division and have now gone into the Somerset Senior League.

Back on league duty and a visit to Poole saw us return with only 1 point after a 2-2 draw. So, after 4 games we had 5 points from a possible 12 and were sitting mid-table.

The next match, away to Poundbury Rovers, saw us return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory and this was followed by a stunning 12-0 victory at Piddletrenthide Spartans Res which caused Spartans to fold up and withdraw from the league. This victory seemed to galvanise Westlands and we went away to Kangaroos who were 2nd in the table and beat them 8-1 ! Dave Beats grabbed hat-tricks in both these games to put him in front in the goalscoring charts.

Could we carry on this blistering form ? Yes was the answer as Bere Regis visited alvington and were thumped 5-1 to make it 25 goals in 3 games for sports. nobody seemed to want to play us at this point as several games were canceelled so our next match was home to Kangaroos and we ended their lingering promotion hopes with a 3-1 victory.

A tough game then followed at Alvington when Lytchett RT visited but we scraped home by 1-0 with skipper Jamie green grabbing the all important goal. A visit to Poole Borough Reserves followed and we won that by a convincing 6-1 scoreline with Dave Beats leading the way with 4 goals. We were on a roll now and an away game at Shaftesbury was won 5-0 followed by the tricky away match to Lytchett RT which we won 2-0. Poundbury Reserves came to alvington and we made hard work of this one but won 4-3 in the end to keep the winning run going.

Stourpaine were undefeated and top of the table but we were hot on their heels and the crunch came with their visit to Alvington on 18th April. A strong wind made it a difficult game with chances few and far between but captain Jamie Green bagged the winner in a close contest whichended 1-0 to Sports.

The title was within our grasp now and we made no mistake by thumping Poole Borough Res 7-0 at Alvington in our next game to keep the pressure on. The news that Stourpaine had lost and drawn their next 2 matches after their defeat at Alvington meant we could clinch the title in our midweek away trip to Swanage.

A Charlie Gay hat-trick was the highlight of a scintillating first half that saw us take a commanding 6-0 half time lead. The final result was 7-0 and the title was ours.

We played out the season with a 4-2 win over Canford Utd at Alvington to complete a 13 match winning run, an impressive finish to the season. We now look forward to playing in the Senior League next season.

SEASON 2014/15 RESERVE TEAM GOALSCORERS

SEASON 2014/15 RESERVE TEAM APPEARANCES

In total 54 players played.

YOUTH (UNDER 18) TEAM

The Under 18s were competing in the Dorset League Youth Division and, as always, we had high hopes for this squad of players.

We started the season with a home game against Bournemouth Poppies. A Dan Quirke hat-trick was the catalyst in a 3-2 victory but disaster struck in the second half with Dec Cornish suffering a leg-break which saw him take no further part in the season. This game had shown it was going to be a tough league but a win was a good start.

Our second match was an away game at Bridport where we snatched a point in a 3-3 draw with a late Sam Watts equaliser. The following match saw Hamworthy Utd visit Alvington and they showed what a good side they were, beating us 2-1. So, three games played, 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat so we needed a few wins to keep up with the pace.

Our next match was a home game against Corfe Mullen and we saw them off with a 5-2 win and this was followed by a good 6-2 victory against Rossgarth at Verwood. This match was a long haul and showed that not all the players were committed enough to make these away trips. However we had won but another away trip to face Bournemouth Poppies in our next game saw an understrength team slump to a 1-0 defeat.

A fresh challenge came next with a Dorset FA Youth Cup tie away to Bridport. On a sloping pitch at Beaminster School we played well and won 4-0.

Back to league duty we had another away trip, this time to unbeaten league leaders Hamworthy Utd and once again some of our lads didn't fancy it and we were well beaten 5-2. We managed to rally the troops and our next match away to Corfe Mullen saw us rack up an impressive 5-1 victory. Back at home the next week were 3-1 up with 10 minutes to go against Rossgarth and let it slip finally drawing 3-3.

The 2nd Round of the Dorset FA Youth Cup the following week saw Rossgarth return to Alvington and this time there were no slip ups and we cruised to a 6-0 win.

We were on a little unbeaten run now and a 5-2 home win over Bournemouth Poppies was followed by a 7-1 win over Parley Sports and a repeat 7-1 win over Corfe Mullen. Another away game followed at Rossgarth which we won 3-1 before the bubble burst at Parley where some dubious decisions saw us lose our cool and the match 1-0.

Our next match was away to the league leaders Hamworthy Utd and again the manager was left short of players willing to make the trip but those who did put up a spirited performance in awful conditions even although we lost 4-1. This match saw Hamworthy lift the league title..

The next match was the Dorset FA Cup semi-final away to Bournemouth Sports. Some of our team went into this game with the wrong attitude and we eventually lost 5-2 after extra time. We should have had the game sewn up when leading 2-1 with 20 minutes to go and well on top but a silly sending off let them back into the game and going into extra time with 10 men was too big a task.

Our next match was another away game at Bridport where we lost 1-0 in a game we had dominated and missed 2 penalties. The following week at Alvington we played Bridport again in the league and after being 4-2 down at half time we stormed back to win 8-4 with Callum Thompson grabbing a hat-trick.

We were nicely set up then for our next match, a League Cup tie against Parley which we won 4-1 to progress to the 3rd round where we would host Bournemouth Sports who had put us out of the FA Cup. Despite being on top for most of the game we couldn't break down the Bournemouth defence and their clinical finishing gave them a 3-1 victory.

That was our last chance of silverware and the season ended with a 2-1 home defeat by Parley in the last league match of the season.

On reflection, it was generally felt that this group of players had underachieved during the season and a lack of commitment at times had cost us. However, several of the squad had played for the first team and reserves during the season and that really is the measure of success for the youth sides.